Drow 'n' Smirr

6.69 miles 5h 3m ascent 332m

Aisgill Moor-Eden Springs circular

Between two sister moorland rills
There is a spot that seems to lie
Sacred to flow’rets of the hills,
And sacred to the sky.

We had slightly damp boots but the weather was decent. It was neither a particularly long walk, nor much of a climb but… Du lieber Gott! … it was a grind. I slept for 12 hours that night. That said, I think it was my favourite section of the Eden Way. There is something atmospheric about a wild moorland walk.

6.30 miles 3h 53m ascent 247m

Thrang-Hellgill Bridge circular

And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding—riding—riding—
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard.
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred.
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

The Highwayman. Alfred Noyes

The Eden Way guide offers two routes from Thrang to Hell Gill Bridge, one is closer to the river but more rustic, and one further from the river but on a better path and passing the Watercut Eden Benchmark. I had always intended walking both of these routes but probably as part of separate walks, but a last minute hiccough left us with only one car and a need for a shorter walk. Making these two routes into a circular walk allowed us to go ahead. This took us by origin of the River Eden as a named waterway, as well as the final, and most impressive, benchmark sculpture. I had not realised we would have to ford Hell Gill above its waterfall but that just added to the experience.

10.85 miles 5h 48m ascent 227m
– Eden Way: 9.47 miles 4h 50m ascent 201m
– Poetry Path, 1.38 miles 58m ascent 26m

Sandford-Kirkby Stephen-Stenkrith

This section of the Eden Way took us from Sandford Bridge to Stenkrith Park in Kirkby Stephen. It has pleasant riverside paths through fields and woodland, short sections through farmland and pavements through Kirkby Stephen. There are couple of miles of road-walking on quiet country roads. But it was not a vanilla hike. Overgrown paths saw us stung by nettles and snatched by brambles; there were stiles to try the patience of a saint; the odd navigation lapse kept us on our toes; and finding the section’s Eden Benchmark proved challenging. But the weather was good and we had the Kirkby Stephen Poetry Trail as a dessert.

8.68 miles 4h 43m ascent 219m

Colby-Sandford

We had finished the last section a little way off the Eden Way. The closest parking had been where Colby Bridge crosses Hoff Beck, half a mile off the Way. Luckily, a public right of way runs alongside the beck between the Eden Way and where the car was parked. Unfortunately, it was not obvious how we should reach it.

A gate led to the right of way but it was not easily opened and the route beyond was overgrown with brambles. Another few paces and it was impassable. But the fates smiled on us. A woman appeared from the house beside us and told us how to reach the path. We walked through her back garden (with her permission) to a farm gate with a yellow right-of-way plaque. I imagine the original right of way had been altered at some time.